A transplantable tumor of the urinary bladder in rabbits

The latency period for induction of urinary bladder carcinoma is at least 2 years in animals that can be followed endoscopically. We studied the possibility of producing a model of malignant urniary bladder tumor in rabbits in less time by transplanting tumor cells. Each of 80 male mixed bred rabbits received 1 ml of tumor cell suspension of Brown-Pearce carcinoma. Transplantation was done subcutaneously, intratesticularly, transurethrally, or aftet cystotomy via injection into the bladder submucosa. Within 2 to 3 weeks malignant tumor growth in the bladder could be shown. Superficial scarification of the mucosa, performed at the same time as transplantation, led to exulceration of the tumor into the bladder lumen. Tumor incidence reached a 80 to 95 per cent level. Metastases in these animals were analogous to human urothelial bladder carcinoma. This malignant tumor model seems especially suitable to study new methods of transurethral therapy for cancer of the urinary bladder.